New Splatoon 3 special weapon reminds everyone of Catalyst’s ultimate in Apex Legends 

Nintendo announced the “2023 Chill Season” for Splatoon 3 on November 16. The new season will launch on December 1, and a certain special weapon it will introduce has caught the attention of the players in particular for its striking resemblance to an Ultimate Ability appearing in Apex Legends. 

SRL Musicology here, pumped to reveal a new Chirpy Chips single and music video! Yeah, Ballistics and Fashion Desk and pretty much everyone else is yelling that this is actually the Chill Season trailer (coming 12/1, BTW), but we're focused on the retro synth chiptune bassline! pic.twitter.com/OxdnSMdgT5

— Splatoon North America (@SplatoonNA) November 15, 2023

Splatoon 3’s 2023 Chill Season will feature the new Robo ROM-en stage, which seems to have a huge bowl of delicious-looking ramen hanging from its ceiling. The trailer also reveals new weapons, many of which appear to be variants of existing weapons such as the S-BLAST ‘92, Paintbrush and REEF-LUX 450. 

But among the various new elements unveiled, the new special weapon Splattercolor Screen has taken the spotlight. The Splattercolor Screen is an ink-filled grenade-like projectile that, when thrown, deploys a long wall-like horizontal screen. Although there are gaps in the screen formed by it, it seems to provide a means of blocking other’s field of vision, regardless of friend or foe. From what can be seen in the trailer, when a character passes through the screen, they take damage, and their view becomes black and white. 

 Upon seeing the new special weapon, it seems many made the same connection – it is reminiscent of the Ultimate Ability of Catalyst from Apex Legends. Catalyst is a Controller-class Legend whose ability is to manipulate magnetic ferrofluid. Her Ultimate, called the Dark Veil, deploys a huge wall of ferrofluid, which slows down and temporarily blinds enemies when they pass through it. 

 Both the Splattercolor Screen in Splatoon 3 and the Black Veil in Apex Legends are big moves that require a gauge to be filled in order to use. Combine that with the similarity of the two abilities’ appearance and functionality and you get a ton of players comparing the two. Also, despite one title being an FPS and the other a TPS, both games are popular shooters, so their player bases may overlap. Incidentally, Viper from Valorant also happens to have a similar ability titled Toxic Screen. 

On the other hand, the Splattercolor Screen does differ from the previously mentioned abilities in that it’s lower in height and contains gaps, likely giving it a much different feel and range of use. 

As more detailed functions of the new special weapon have yet to be revealed, a remaining point of interest is whether attacks will pass through it or not, as this will influence its compatibility with other sub weapons. 

The 2023 Chill Season of Splatoon 3 is scheduled to launch on December 1. 

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-11-16 13:38 JST)